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Bruno the Trashman
BRUNO THE TRASHMAN is a sanitation engineer on SESAME STREET who acts as personal chauffeur to OSCAR THE GROUCH. During the 1970s, the SESAME STREET cast made live performances across the country, but there was no effective way to help OSCAR THE GROUCH to enter the stages. CAROLL SPINNEY, inspired by a puppet character on The Gong Show, conceived of a full-body GARBAGE man who could physically carry OSCAR. Since his arms are usually just holding onto OSCAR’s TRASH CAN, CAROLL SPINNEY was able to perform OSCAR as well as OSCAR’s left hand while inside the BRUNO costume. The TRASH CAN was connected to an opening in BRUNO’s stomach.[[Caroll Spinney|'SPINNEY', CAROLL]]. [[The Wisdom of Big Bird|The Wisdom of '''BIG' BIRD]]; New York: Villard, 2003 pp. 63-64. Though usually '''BRUNO'’s a silent SESAME STREET character, 1 of the few times that BRUNO spoke was in the song "[[Put It in the Trash Can|Put IT in the TRASH CAN]]", which he sang as part of a singing group, "[[Bruno and the Trashmen|'BRUNO' & the TRASH'''men]]". He had a brief line at the end of ''[[w:c:muppet:Follow That Bird|Follow That '''BIRD]], saying "Sure, Boss!" when 'OSCAR' asked him to just go take a walk around the block. Similarly, when 'OSCAR' asks him a question in the special ''Here Come the Puppets!, BRUNO does manage to get out the sentence "Well, uh..." before OSCAR cuts him off & says that’s enough. An invisible wire was connected from BRUNO’s mouth to somewhere inside the TRASH CAN. According to CAROLL SPINNEY, BRUNO’s greatest moment was at the end of [[w:c:muppet:Follow That Bird|Follow That '''BIRD']]'' "as he slowly walks into the sunset carrying OSCAR".[[Caroll Spinney|'SPINNEY', CAROLL]]. [[The Wisdom of Big Bird|The Wisdom of '''BIG BIRD']]. New York: Villard, 2003, p 64.. '''BRUNO' has demonstrated skills at rollerskating while also carrying OSCAR in his TRASH CAN, in both Here Come the Puppets! & [[w:c:muppet:Big Bird's Birthday or Let Me Eat Cake|'BIG''' BIRD’s Birthday or Let ME Eat Cake]]. '''BRUNO', in the latter, surprised both OSCAR (to his disappointment) & the humans (to their amazement) at how good of a skater he was. After several years in storage, the puppet’s foam eventually just completely, literally disintegrated.Gikow, Louise A. [[w:c:muppet:Sesame Street: A Celebration - 40 Years of Life on the Street|'SESAME''' STREET: A Celebration - 40 Years of Life on the STREET]]; New York, NY: Black Dog & Leventhal, 2009, p. 48.. 'SPINNEY' later remarked in a live appearance that rebuilding the puppet would have been prohibitively expensive, & the character was retired.[[w:c:muppet:Sesame Street at 40: A Night of Celebration with the Legendary Cast|'SESAME' STREET at 40: A Night of Celebration with the LEGENDARY Cast]], January 30th, 2009, Shea Center for the Performing Arts, William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ. Years later in Episode 4621 in 2016. a recycling man appears. Though not named directly, his physical appearance & profession suggest that the character is intended to be '''BRUNO'. In this iteration, he’s made from a Pumpkin live hand Anything Muppet & performed by John Tartaglia. File:Bruno 2016.png|The recycling man (Episode 4621) Appearances TV/Movies/Specials *''SESAME STREET'' (1969 - present) **Episode 1899 (1983) **Episode 2495 (1988) **Episode 2595 (1989) **'EPISODE 2746' (1990) **Episode 2840 (1991) **'EPISODE 3023' (1993) **Episode 3055 (1993) **'EPISODE 3083' (1993) *''Here Come the Puppets!'' (1980) *''[[w:c:muppet:Follow That Bird|Follow That BIRD]]'' (1985) *''The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years'' (1986) *''[[w:c:muppet:Sesame Street, Special|'SESAME' STREET, Special]]'' (1988) *''[[w:c:muppet:Big Bird's Birthday or Let Me Eat Cake|'BIG' BIRD’s Birthday or Let ME Eat Cake]]'' (1991) Books *''First Day of School'' (1982) *''[[w:c:muppet:Ernie's Neighborhood|'Ernie'’s Neighborhood]]'' (1987) *''[[Oscar's Grouchy Sounds|'OSCAR'’s GROUCHY Sounds]]'' (1990) *''[[From Trash to Treasure|From TRASH to Treasure]]'' (1993) Photo gallery File:Bruno carries Oscar's trash can.jpg|'BRUNO' carries OSCAR in his TRASH CAN. File:Oscar the Grouch with Bruno the Trashman.png|'BRUNO' carries OSCAR in his TRASH CAN. File:Oscar with Bruno in Here Comes the Puppets 1.jpg|'BRUNO' carries OSCAR in his TRASH CAN. File:Oscar with Bruno in Here Comes the Puppets 2.jpg|'BRUNO' carries OSCAR in his TRASH CAN. File:Bob with Oscar & Bruno.jpg|'BRUNO' carries OSCAR in his TRASH CAN. File:Bruno the Trashman with Oscar small.jpg|'BRUNO' carries OSCAR in his TRASH CAN. File:Sesame Street 40th clip Bruno the Trashman.jpg|'BRUNO' carries OSCAR in his TRASH CAN. File:Trash Outta Heaven.jpg|'BRUNO' carries OSCAR in his TRASH CAN. File:2495 g.jpg|A rare instance where BRUNO does not carry the TRASH CAN. File:Caroll Spinney Bruno.jpg|'CAROLL SPINNEY' in the BRUNO costume. Videos File:Sesame Street Bring Your Own Can Night File:Sesame Street "Trash Outta Heaven" File:Sesame Street - "In the Trash Can" File:"Put It in the Trash Can" Proof See also *'BRUNO THE TRASHMAN' on the Muppet Wiki *'BRUNO THE TRASHMAN' on the Puppet Wiki *'BRUNO THE TRASHMAN' on the [[w:c:oscarthegrouch:The Oscar the Grouch Wiki|'OSCAR' THE GROUCH Wiki]] Category:Articles Bruno The Trashman Category:Muppet Characters Category:Pages Category:Sesame Street Characters